Distant supernova remnant imaged by high resolution camera | 1/09/1999 | ||
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N132D
is the remnant of an exploded star in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The Chandra
image shows a highly structured remnant, or shell, of 10-million-degree
gas that is 80 light years across. The remnant is thought to be about 3,000
years old.
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Image Credit: NASA, CXC, SAO. | |||
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In the Chandra X-ray image of N132D made with the High Resolution Camera, the regions of brightest X-ray emission are shown in yellow. The N132D supernova remnant appears to be colliding with a giant molecular cloud, which produces the brightening on the southern rim of the remnant. The relatively weak x-radiation on the upper left shows that the shock wave is expanding into a less dense region on the edge of the molecular cloud. A number of small circular structures are visible in the central regions and a hint of a large circular loop can be seen in the upper part of the remnant. The expanding shock wave has swept up material equal to that of 600 suns. | ![]() |
N132D
in Context
N132D is similar in many ways to an older, much larger version of the Cas A supernova remnant. It has a complex shell-like structure that is caused by the expansion of a supersonic shock wave into surrounding material. Both remnants were probably produced by the explosion of a star that was 10 to 20 times more massive than the sun. The N132D remnant contains about 50 times more material than Cas A, and its X-ray power is about 10 times greater. The temperature of its hot gas is about 5 times lower, however. These differences are likely due to the older age of N132D and the fact that N132D is expanding into a more dense environment than Cas A. |
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